Equal Pay and Employment in Serbia During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction and objectives: Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Serbia belonged to the group of post-transition countries that were determined to reduce gender inequalities in the labour market through an improved institutional framework and measures to promote women's employment. However, the gender wage gap remains significant. This paper uses data from the Survey on Income and Living Conditions to examine the gender wage gap in Serbia. Methods: The estimates of the stochastic frontier model were obtained using the maximum likelihood estimation method. Results: The results indicate a statistically significant gender wage gap, showing that women on average have a log hourly wage 0.109 and 0.098 lower than men in 2019 and 2020, respectively. The labour market shows similar efficiency of employees. Conclusion: It is predicted that women are paid less than men, even after controlling for the observed factors. Comparing this with the results of previous studies, it can be concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a slight worsening of gender inequalities in the Serbian labour market. Implications and research limitation: Women's financial vulnerability can be exacerbated by leaving the workforce, taking up part-time employment or working in a job with lower benefits. The latter position of women in the labour market or their recognition as potential beneficiaries by pension and social security systems are two ways in which this has practical implications for the public policy. Similar research using data from the post-COVID-19 period would be of great value in assessing changes in women's position in the labour market.